This high-resolution photo of the planet Mercury probably resembles the rocky exoplanet LHS 3844 b. Results from JWST observations favor an airless rocky planet with a dark, basalt-like surface, likely space-weathered by irradiation and meteorite impacts. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington (cropped) https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/mercury-globe-0n-180e/

Using MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team of researchers led by former MPIA (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany) Ph.D.…